Chester student accused of gun threat

Thursday

Dec 20, 2012 at 2:00 AM

CHESTER — Amid heightened fears over school security in the wake of the massacre in a Connecuticut school, an unidentified 16-year-old student was arrested Tuesday. The Chester Academy teen allegedly threatened to bring a machine gun to school Friday.

Pauline Liu

CHESTER — Amid heightened fears over school security in the wake of the massacre in a Connecuticut school, an unidentified 16-year-old student was arrested Tuesday. The Chester Academy teen allegedly threatened to bring a machine gun to school Friday.

He was arrested under the Mental Hygiene Law on Tuesday afternoon and is undergoing psychiatric evaluation, said Town of Chester police.

Officers found the "out-of-control" teen in front of the school. An investigation turned up no firearms, but classmates told police the boy claimed "he was going to bring a machine gun to school on Friday," said Chief Dan Doellinger.

The teen was taken to Orange Regional Medical Center Mental Health Unit where he remains under observation.

Chester schools Superintendent Sean Michel said neither students nor staff were in any danger. "What occurred was a mental health issue," said Michel, who addressed the issue on the district's website. "In light of the tragedy that occurred in Connecticut, people's fears are heightened. We're doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our students and staff."

Goshen Superintendent Dan Connor also took to the district's website to address social media chatter about threats of violence Friday — supposedly the end of the world according to some interpretations of the Mayan calendar.

"It's important to know that no threats have been made against any of Goshen's schools," Connor wrote. "However, we realize that after a traumatic incident such as the Sandy Hook tragedy, people often feel on edge."

Connor said he was told about the chatter Monday and wanted to address it immediately.

"We want parents to know there is no validity to any of this," he said. "Your children are safe and our police department has gone the extra mile."

Village police have beefed up patrols around the district all week long, but on Friday there will be additional measures, said police Chief James Watt.

"For that day, we will have an officer at each school who will be inside," he said.

No other local school districts appear to have taken such measures for Friday — although most have beefed up security in light of the Sandy Hook shootings.

The Newburgh School District has added new security in its elementary schools.

"The Board of Education directed us to hire safety monitors on a daily basis through mid-January," Assistant Superintendent of Business Michael Pacella said.

The board made the decision after parents and grandparents complained about the lack of security at the district's grade schools during Tuesday night's school board meeting.

"This was a hot issue as far as I'm concerned, especially this week and we wanted to know why they didn't have security guards in the elementary schools," said Jill Fasciana, a Newburgh grandmother.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips told local school officials not to talk to the media about school security procedures.